You are really good at your trade and you are a professional at drywall installation, but there are many things that can go wrong on a workplace that are beyond your control. People fall from ladders, Drywall can fall on peoples heads, and there are damage to premises during repairs or restoration jobs.
The solution is simple. You need to have General Liability insurance. Many contractors are just go thinking “I’m just a small guy, I don’t need that” but they’re wrong. Here are 6 reasons why you really do need that insurance:
- Get that big job: Most big contractors require general liability for their subcontractors and they also may require worker’s compensation insurance. Don’t lose opportunities to get that big job due to lack of coverage.
- Get that license: To get that contractor license that will show that you are a proud and reliable professional
- Give assurance to your customers: You need to prove to your customers that you are a professional and that their premises are covered during the time that the job lasts.
- Save yourself from a disaster: The costs of a lose could take you out of business immediately; there is no reason to put yourself in such a situation.
- Become more competitive: Having general liability insurance makes you more employable and more trustworthy for clients in comparison to all other uninsured contractors.
- Gain trust from your customers: Having coverage is not only for yourself, it is also to better serve your customers. This builds up a relationship of trust that will later translate into more referrals, more jobs and more money.
Now we have understood the main reasons why we need it, but do we really know what we get when we purchase a General Liability Policy?
- Protects us from lawsuits from third parties over bodily injuries or property damage
- Pays for: attorney fees, court costs, witness fees, settlements, and court-ordered judgments in the case of an accident.
- Cover some medical expenses and the cost of repairing or replacing damaged property
- Cover advertising injury such as slander or copyright infringement
You may ask yourself “is General Liability the only insurance that I need?”. Perhaps, but you may want to consider covering your second best asset, which are your tools.
Why Tools and Equipment coverage?
We carry thousands of dollars in the back of our trucks, let’s face it: Tools are one of the most sought after goods by thieves and are easy to sell. Money thought and effort that took us to get our tools to get serious about protecting them.
How about loosing our nice Drywall T-Square or our Drywall Knifes and cordless drills? Now adding just some more dollars to our general liability policy we could purchase that insurance for our tools. This will get that peace of mind that allows us to do what we do better, working with drywall.
But theft is not the only risk for our tools, a Tools and equipment policy also covers vandalism, fire, windstorm, and typically flood and earthquake as well.
Why Workers Compensation?
First of all because it is the law if you have employees. Second is because our most important asset as a contractors is ourselves. We do the work so we are exposed to accidents, mistakes and negligence. This is important because we have a moral and legal responsibility with our employees. This contributes to a better workplace environment that will translate into more productivity for us.
Under Worker’s Compensation our employees receive the following benefits:
- Benefits to survivors of workers who are killed on the job
- Compensation for any permanent injuries
- Cost of retraining
- Replacement income
- Medical care from the injury and illness
As business owners Workers Compensation protects us from being sued for our employees and can saves us from huge losses. As a whole Workers Compensation is convenient for both employer and employee. It also will force us to create a safer work environment for all of us and contribute to the well being of our working force.
Final considerations
General liability, Inland Marine and Workers Compensation are very important to develop our business. It protects us in case of accidents. By having coverage make us a truly professional enterprise, this makes our business look better on the eyes of our customers. It allow us to provide a better service. It is important to consider, even if you’re a small freelancer, or a 1099 contractor, you have the same responsibilities as the larger established businesses. In our agency our goal is to keep you safe so you can keep working, we are a team of professional insurance agents that will research the best rates available with A rated insurance companies and find the right policy for you.
